Rotating trap portioning device for granular materials



NOV 3, 1953 A. G. ROSE ET AL 2,657,832

ROTATING TRAP PRTIONING DEVICE FOR GRANULAR MATERIALS Filed July l0, 1950 Patented Nov. 3, i953 ROTATIN G TRAP PORTIONING DEVICE FOR GRANULAR MATERIALS rAlfred German Rose, James Arthur Kay, and James Page, Gainsborough, England, assignors t Rose Brothers (Gainsborough) Limited,

Gainsborough, England, a. British company Y Application JulyA 10, 1950, Serial No. 172,862

6 Claims.

This invention relates to packaging apparatus for powder, granular, aky and other iluent solid materials (hereinafter referred to as powder). The invention is concerned with the type of apparatus in which the powder is fed from a hopper to one or a succession'of pockets having movable bases from which the charges of powder are discharged into containers. The pockets `are made adjustable, e. g., by telescoping, to vary the volume and thus the charge delivered to the container. This type of apparatus. will be referred to herein as the type described.

According to the invention there is provided an apparatus of the type described, wherein the pockets are made adjustable by the provision of at least an intermediate portion of rubber or other flexible material capable of being telescoped. The intermediate portion thus allows adjustment of the volume of the pocket by telescoping one part of the pocket into another or, when the intermediate portion is formed from rubber, to a lesser degree by stretching.

The pocket is preferably made entirely of rubber though it will be understood that it may be constituted by upper and lower portions of stii material, e. g., metal, connected by the intermediate portion. When made entirely of rubber, it is necessary to stiffen the upper and lower portions, e. g., by supportingr the portions by stiff material or by providing stiffening inserts or facings.

The invention is particularly useful in connection with pockets of truncated conical construction because of the difiiculty of providing an adequate steel between conical surfaces when arranged to be telescoped one into the other.

The invention may be used on any type of apparatus in which adjustable pockets are used. It has been found useful, for example, in connection with the packaging apparatus described in applicants Patent No. 2,616,652, issued September l2, 1952. The invention, as applied to such apparatus, will now be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawing which shows, in sectional elevation, part of an apparatus of the same general construction as that described in the specification mentioned above, to which reference should be made.

Referring to the drawing, powder I I flows from a supply pipe I2 into a collecting chamber I3 from which it passes through apertures I4 in a rotatable apertured wheel I6 into pockets I1, having movable bases I9 pivcted at 2 I. The bases I9 are opened at intervals to allow the powder to fall into discharge chutes 22 leading to cartons 23 vmoved 'into position to receive the charges by a conveyor chain 24.

The chamber I3 is arranged in an annular channel 26 the walls of which extend upwardly of the wheel I6, and in the base of which are formed the apertures I4. The chamber I3 forms with the base of the channel 26 an enclosed chamber through which the pockets I1, pass in succession, the chamber I3 being of such dimensions that a number of apertures I4 have access to the chamber at the same time. Filling of the pockets I1, thus taking place over the period of time required for the hopper to pass through the chamber.

Thel pockets I1 are each constituted by a moulded rubber sleeve bonded at its upper end to a securing flange 20 and at the lower end to an adjusting ange 25, the sleeve being formed with an upper conical portion and a lower conical portion connected by an intermediate portion 30. The upper and lower conical portions are stiffened by the flanges 2 and 25, respectively, while the intermediate portion 3Il is free to flex for purposes of adjustment.

The wheel I6 is carried by a series of pillars 21 secured to and extending upwardly from a chain- Wheel 28 forming one of the supports for the conveyor chain 2.4. The chain-wheel 28 is secured to a sleeve 29 forming part of the main driving gear for the machine. The wheel I6 carries the securing flanges 20 while the adjusting flanges 25 are carried by an adjusting wheel 33 formed with a series of depending bosses 34 by which it is slidably mounted on the series of pillars 21. The wheel 33 is formed with a central hub 36 by which it is supported on a thrust bearing 31 carried by an adjusting sleeve 38 making threaded engagement at 39 with an adjusting shaft 4I extending co-axially with the chain-wheel 28.

The Wheel 33 carries a series of depending brackets 42 (one for each pocket I1) each pivotally supporting at 43 a two-armed lever 44 the arms of which carry cam rollers 46 and 41 arranged, respectively, to engage stationary cams (not shown) mounted on the main framework 5I of the machine. The bases I9 of the pockets I1, are provided with arms 52 each of which is pivotally connected to a spring toggle memberA 53 carried by the lever 44. It will thus be seen that, as the rollers 46 and 41 engage the cams, the bases I9 are opened or closed, as the case may be.

The chutes 22 are carried by arms 54 extending radially from a supporting ring 56 having their open ends embrace the mouths of the chutes Adjustment of the capacity of the pockets I1, is brought about by rotation of the adjusting shaft 4| (either manually or by mechanical means) which causes the sleeve 38 to rise or fall (depending on the direction of rotation) so as to raise or lower the wheel 33 carrying the adjusting sleeves 25 thus causing the pockets l1, to telescope inwardly or outwardly a-s the case may be.

We claim:

l. Apparatus of the type described for packaging fluent materials, comprising upper and lower pocket-carrying members mounted for rotation about a common axis and relatively movable in an axial direction, at least one pocket adapted to receive successive charges of material, said pocket being constituted by an upper portion secured to the upper pocket-carrying member, a lower portion secured to the lower pocketcarrying member and an intermediate portion of deformable flexible material connecting the upper and lower portions, means for rotating the upper and lower pocket-carrying members in unison to carry the pocket to successive operating stations and means for causing a relative axial movement between the upper and lower pocket-carrying members so as to deform the intermediate portion of the pocket and thus vary the capacity of the pocket.

2. Apparatus as in claim 1, wherein the pocket is formed entirely from exible material.

3. Apparatus as in claim 2, comprising tubular stiffening members for the upper and lower portions of the pocket.

4. Apparatus as in claim 3, wherein the pocket is of truncated conical shape, the smaller end constituting the inlet.

5. Apparatus as in claim 1, wherein the upper and lower pocket portions are formed from rigid material.

6. Apparatus as in claim 1, wherein the pocket is of truncated conical shape, the smaller end constituting the inlet.

ALFRED GERMAN ROSE. JAMES ARTHUR KAY. JAMES PAGE.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 928,658 Hoyt July 20, 1909 1,001,855 Jagenberg Aug. 29, 1911 2,009,416 Schilder July 30, 1935 2,144,569 Frazier Jan. 17, 1939 2,234,951 Belcher Mar. 18, 1941 2,356,212 Burdett et al Aug. 22, 1944 

